


A Ghost Without A Past

by gay4tae



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Adorable Choi Soobin, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Attempt at Humor, Choi Soobin is a Little Shit, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Heavy Angst, Huening Kai is a Little Shit, Huening Kai-Centric, Humor, Hurt, M/M, Original Character(s), POV First Person, Romance, Sad Choi Soobin, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smitten Choi Soobin, Soft Choi Soobin, Strangers to Lovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Whipped Choi Soobin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-06-22 06:19:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19661563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gay4tae/pseuds/gay4tae
Summary: Kai hates ghosts. Especially if they come in the form of a certain bunny-smile, bread loving one.or...In which a beautiful friendship blossoms between a ghost and his human friend.





	1. Friendly Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> Thought of this idea after being inspired from reading, Call Me By Your Name. (cried for half an hour btw). This'll be a totally different storyline though, but it's mainly the ending of this au that will be a little similar to the book.
> 
> Also, this fic will be written in first POV.

I didn’t believe in ghosts. Keyword: _didn’t_. Ghosts from our past that come out to haunt us from time to time? Sure. But actual supernatural, paranormal, ghostly spirit shit? Now, I'm not one to believe in superstitions or a believer of the underworld, you got to know that about me first. 

It wasn’t until one day when my family and I moved into a new house that I walked in and saw a strange, tall man on his knees rummaging through our cardboard box of books in my new living room.

“Who are you?” I said.

My dad, who was busy nailing our family photos on the wall, stopped his hammering and looked over his shoulder at me. He lifted one eyebrow up as if to tell me I was speaking a whole other language.

“Who are you talking to, bud?”

See, I was already in a foul mood. After having to haul in box after box of our stuff out of the moving truck and into the house by myself while the rest of my sisters and my mother went out to town to do some “exploring”, I wasn’t in the mood to be treated like some gullible, dumb 9-year-old. So, it really wasn’t my fault when I walked over and poked the stranger’s shoulder and without intending to, scaring the life out of him. 

By the time I looked over at my dad, he was already climbing down the ladder and walking towards me. I was waiting for a “did I scared ya?” or a “too old for the same, lame trick, huh?”. But it never came. Instead, he walked in front of me and was standing in the exact same spot as the stranger who was still on his knees, clutching onto the same shoulder where I'd touched him. Suddenly, I was seeing two people overlapping each other. Although they didn’t morphed into one (that’d be a sight to see), the stranger appeared almost translucent while my dad remained the same. 

The stranger whose name I did not know yet, turned his attention up towards me. He tilted his head in curiosity in a manner that was almost puppy-like.

“You can see me?” 

The moment my eyes met his and his eyes met mine, I knew I was either losing it or a ghost is apparently living in our new house. Now that I think about it, I did hit my head pretty hard this morning after falling off the bed. 

I should probably get that checked. 

I ignored his question and turned around to walk away.

“Nevermind. I think I might go get my head checked out by a doctor later.”

“After you help bring in the couch!” My father yelled after me before resuming to his work.

As I was walking back to the truck, I felt a hand wrapped itself around my wrist. I spun around on my heels and looked up at the stranger with hostility. I couldn’t see it before but being up close and personal, one couldn’t help but notice he was a handsome stranger, I’ll give him that.

His smile grew larger, “I have a friend now.” 

And then he was pulling me into his arms and giving me the warmest hug I never asked for, nor wanted. What the hell is with this guy?

“You’re an adorable one, too.” He giggled.

“...”

_...Adorable?_


	2. Where Home Is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soobin, the friendly ghost meets Kai, the not-so-friendly human.

It’s been 6 hours since I found out our new house is haunted by a ghost and some higher forces up above has decided to torture me by having an incredibly annoying, overfriendly, and flirtatious ghost follow me around the house all day. I can’t imagine how my life could get any better.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than to follow me around like an abandoned, lost puppy?” I spat at him bitterly.

“But I haven’t been able to communicate to a single soul ever since I became a ghost. Not unless you consider a one-sided verbal conversation to be a form of social interaction. Don’t you know how lonely that is?”

“My heart breaks for you, Ghosty.” I remarked, sarcasm dripping out from my voice as thick as honey.

“You’re a bit mean, but I don’t mind," he smiled optimistically. "I’m just glad I have someone I can talk to now.”

“Uh huh.”

“And Ghosty’s not my name. It’s Soobin. Choi-Soo-bin,” he accentuates each syllable.

I ignored him and began to walk away. Needing to relief myself, I walked inside the bathroom that was conveniently connected to my bedroom.

“If you don’t mind, I have to use the bathroom. Surely, you can entertain yourself while I’m gone, can’t you Ghosty?”

“I’ve been doing it for months actually, I’m practically a natural. Also, my name’s not Ghosty. I told you it was-”

The door is shut on his face before he’s even able to complete his sentence. I sighed, turning around to lean my back against the door. Maybe if I get some good night sleep, he’ll just...go away.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

He did not go away.

“Rise and shine! It’s a brand new day!”

“Oh my god, why are you still here?” I mumbled tiredly. I rubbed at my eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep that was calling back for me.

“I see you’re not much of a morning person. Somehow that doesn’t come much as a surprise.”

“I see you’re not any less annoying than you were 8 hours ago. Somehow that doesn’t come much as a surprise.” I retorted irritatingly at him.

“Clearly someone has woken up on the wrong side of the bed.”

I pulled my pillow out from beneath my head and hurled it straight to his face. I didn’t miss, but sadly, the pillow went through him and had hit my door instead, landing onto the floor.

“You strike me as someone who used to throw plenty of tantrums as a child.”

“GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”

“Fun fact but this used to be my room. So technically…”

I ripped my blanket away from my body and got up, storming towards the bathroom. 

“Don’t forget to wash behind the ears!”

I’m finding his body after I finished with a shower and putting him to rest once and for all.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

When I stepped out of the bathroom fresh from an early morning shower with a towel wrapped around my waist, I realized I have never prepared myself for this moment where I’d be half naked with a boy in my room.

I shrieked as I tried to cover my body as best I could.

“What are you still doing here?”

He looked at me as if I should already know, “I was waiting for you.”

I threw him a bewildered look, “And what exactly were you expecting? For me to call you over and pet your head like a dog and tell you how much of a good boy you are?“

“That’d be nice.”

I mentally counted down from ten to zero in my head before stomping over to my drawers and grabbing the first shirt and pants my hands had touched. I turned to look at Soobin, glaring at him with intensity before entering the bathroom again to change.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

After I had finished eating breakfast with my family, I took my guitar and went out to the backyard to get some fresh air. The weather was nice out today. The sun was out and I let it wash over my face as I closed my eyes in content. 

This was nice. To be one with nature and to just let your skin soak up the sun, taking full advantage of all the vitamin D it had to offer.

I seated myself on the newly bought porch swing my mother insisted we get despite the extremely strict budget we originally had. Dad had to sacrifice his 55 inch flat screen TV for a 32 inch one. He always have a soft spot for her. Always had. I began to strum together a few chords.

I started thinking of my old hometown where I grew up with all my childhood friends. Eventually, each note transformed into bits of memories as I took myself back in time to when I used to live in my old house with my old school and my old friends. As I kept strumming, I noticed another presence sitting next to me.

“You play beautifully.”

I stopped my strumming and looked at him.

“Thanks.”

“What song is it?”

“I made it up myself.”

“Of course you did. You’re as equally talented as you are adorable.”

I stood up to leave.

“No, wait! I’m sorry. Come back, please. I want to hear more.”

I sat back down, rocking the porch swing.

“You have to be quiet,” I told him.

He pinched his first finger and thumb together, bringing it up to the corner of his lips and moving them in a zipping motion across. I stare at him unimpressed. He throws me an okay sign and had the audacity to wink at me.

I glared at him, making him turn away from me in embarrassment.

We sat there for hours with me playing the guitar and him staring absentmindedly, too immersed in the melodies my guitar made came to life.

“It sounds almost sad,” he comments. “Do you miss your old home?”

I disregard him with a look of strong detest.

“I told you to be quiet.”

He looked at me with sad eyes as if he himself knew what I was feeling without me having to utter a single word. As if he thinks he can already read me like an open book I voluntarily gave him full permission and consent to do. As if he saw right through me like how I’m able to see right through him when he’d turn translucent before walking through walls.

I truly and wholeheartedly detested him for that.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon where the sky meets the town and my fingers were starting to ache. I stopped playing and was about to head back inside when my annoying companion opened his mouth to speak. 

“I’m sorry. It’d just occurred to me that we might’ve set off on the wrong foot. Let’s start over. Hi, I’m Choi Soobin. Nice to make your acquaintance,” he offered his hand out for me to shake. I stared at it blankely before looking back up to meet his eyes with a bored gaze.

“If you shake it, I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the day.”

I took his hand without a split hesitation. After a forced shake of my hand, I tried to pull back but he refused to let go.

“You have to introduce yourself too, silly.”

I glowered up at him.

“Kai.”

“Kai...Is that all? Just Kai?”

“ _Huening_ Kai,” I pulled my hand back from his stupidly, strong grip. I turn my back around and begin to walk away from his overpowering, annoying presence.

“Awww. I have such an adorable friend with an equally adorable name. I hope Ningning and I can get along,” he sung.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

“What did you just call me?”

“Ningning?”

“Why?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious? It’s my nickname for you.”

“I don’t have nicknames and I most certainly don’t want them from you.”

“Surely, we can come to a compromise then,” his eyes sparkled as bright as his smile did. “Call me by my name and I’ll call you by yours.”

I flare my nostrils in resentment, trying to shoot him the most hatred look I can dig up from the pit of my stomach.

“We have a deal then, Ningning?”

“Fine! Alright, fine! I’ll call you by Soobin or whatever, just stop. Please.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Kai. Good night!” He waved enthusiastically at me and I turned away from him, walking back into the house. I turned around to see if he had followed after me, but he was already gone before I could wish him a good night. He would’ve been swooning. Oh well.

Not my fault.


	3. Finding You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Protective Soobin activated*
> 
> or
> 
> Soobin giving Kai helpful advices but Kai being a little shit and doing the opposite of what Soobin tells him to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. 
> 
> I'm so happy I finally get to upload this chapter! yAAAY! I've been working on this other au and the plot is a lot more complex than this one. Also, I've came up with two endings for this au and have been thinking about it for the longest of time. I might write out both endings but I don't think that'll work out because then I'll have to change parts of the story in the middle to fit with the other ending. Right now, I'm thinking about sticking to the original ending and maybe re-write this with a different ending in another au? Dunno but I'm hoping to finish this au before summer ends. Thanks for reading this note if you came this far :))
> 
> Enjoy! <333

“So, how exactly did you die?”

It was a warm afternoon and we were swinging lazily back and forth on the porch swing, bathing under the warmth of the sun. I look over at him and see him thinking carefully about his answer.

He had his eyes closed and his hands clasped together in deep concentration. 

“I can’t remember.”

I lift one eyebrow up in suspicion, throwing him a perplexed look.

“So, you can remember your name but you can’t remember how you’d became a ghost?”

He frowns at me, “When I try to remember, everything becomes fuzzy.”

“Then how did you know my new room was your old room?”

“Just a feeling,” he states simply.

I scowl at his unhelpful answers but from the look on his face I could tell he wasn’t lying.

I turned away to stare into the abyss, contemplating my next question.

“Doesn’t that frustrate you? Not remembering your past when you were once alive.”

He takes a little longer to think. For a second, I thought about apologizing for overstepping my boundaries, until he finally spoke.

“I try my best not to think about it,” he admits. “Perhaps it’s better that way.”

We didn’t say anything else for awhile after that. I sat there and wondered what it’d be like to stay stuck as a ghost and not be able to remember anything about my past life. Would it really be better? Maybe I wouldn't want to know what terrible things I did to end up alone as a ghost, trapped in my own house. 

Or would my curiosity get the best of me? They did say curiosity killed the cat. Then again, I’m already dead. 

Despite my better judgement, I turn to look him in the face. I let the words fall out of my mouth before I could change my mind.

“I think I’ll help you.”

“What?”

“Welp, you can’t stay a ghost forever. For whatever reason, it looks like I’ve been chosen to help you come to peace with your old life.”

He stares at me in wonder, “How do you plan to do that?”

I hopped off the swing, stretching my back and arms out before looking over my shoulder at him.

“We have to find out the person you were before.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

I’m heading up the stairs to my room when I hear my mother call for me from the kitchen. I paused in my step and turned around to walk towards her voice.

“I was summoned?”

“Honey,” she starts off. “Would you be a darling and bring this blackberry pie to our neighbor? The one on our left, though. Right side neighbor keeps throwing us dirty looks, they don’t deserve my worldwide famous pie.”

“Very mature,” I comment.

My mother shoots me a pointed look.

“Please and thank you,” she turns around to resume her cooking.

I let out an exasperated sigh, pleading my mom with my eyes.

“Why can’t you have your other favorite child do it? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind meeting new people since they already met, like, half the people in this neighborhood.”

“Now, don’t be like that. Your sisters were nice enough to share a room while you got a bedroom all for yourself. Socializing won’t hurt you.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” I said with enthusiasm. My mother kisses me on my head before letting me go.

I take the pie from the kitchen counter and walked to our front door, slipping my shoes on before leaving the house. I turned my head to the left and saw a similar house almost identical to our own. 

I approach the door with caution, turning my head to the left and right, feeling as if I was committing a crime just by simply standing on top of their _welcome_ mat.

I stood taller and straighten out my shoulders, trying to improve my posture. If I’m going to be living here for awhile, first impressions are everything. Right?

I pressed the doorbell and I can hear the _ding_ _dong_ sound echoed throughout the house from outside. I take a step back and quickly smooth the wrinkles out my shirt. The door opens and out came a boy who looked around the same age as me. His hair was long and ruffled messily on top of his head. He was about the same height as me but nowhere was I anywhere near his physique. 

I tried to keep my eyes up but I couldn’t help myself but to stare in awe at the muscle that was bulging out from beneath his thin black v-neck.

Dude was ripped.

I begin to squirm under his intense gaze, not being able to help but to feel conscious about my own body.

“Um, Hi." I begin awkwardly. "I’m your new neighbor and my family and I had just moved in next door the other day. My mother baked this pie and she asked if I could deliver this for you guys,” I internally cringed so hard inside and mentally kicked myself for babbling like an idiot in front of my hot neighbor. 

I held the pie up as to proof that I indeed came bearing pie, “It’s blackberry,” I said dumbly.

“Neighbor’s got a name?”

I feel my face go hot and I sputter out a quick, “Kai.” 

Hot v-neck neighbor continues to bore his eyes into me and I added, “Huening Kai.”

I pushed the pie forward and he thankfully relieve it from my hands.

“Well, thanks for the pie, Kai,” he says without taking his eyes off me. “Can I expect to see you again when school starts tomorrow?”

“Yeah!” I said a little too enthusiastically. “I mean, sure.”

“Cool, then.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll catch you later?”

“Yeah.”

“Then...good night, Kai.”

“Yea—I mean, good night too.”

When the door was finally closed, I turned back around and race back to my house. I throw the door open and ran up the stairs towards my bedroom and slammed the door shut. I leaned against my door trying to catch my breath and plopped onto my bed face first. I rolled over onto my back and with the back of my hand, I cover my eyes. 

I was about to fall asleep with the hope of seeing next-door-neighbor in my dreams when I felt the bed sink a little deeper besides me.

“So, who’s the boy?”

“What makes you think it’s a boy?” I say without looking at him.

“I might’ve been watching from the window downstairs,” he admits quietly.

“So now you’re stalking me?”

“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

“Way to avoid the question.”

“He looks at you like you’re a piece of meat,” continuing to further ignore me. “He just gives me creepy vibes.”

“And you watching me through a window isn’t creepy?”

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” he defends.

“I don’t need you taking that literally.”

He doesn’t say anything after that and I give a tired sigh.

“I’m tired. I have school tomorrow and I don’t want to show up late on the first day. Please, leave me alone.”

Not really expecting him to actually listen to me, I feel his presence gone in a heartbeat, disappearing off to who-knows-where.

I let out another tired sigh, suddenly feeling troubled for reasons I do not know. I choose to blame it on the blackberry pie and the annoyingly hot neighbor and school and more importantly...

Choi Soobin.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

When I get home from school, I throw my backpack in the corner of my room and grab my laptop off my desk. I think about how I should summon my ghost friend, wondering if I should just call out his name. Before I could open my mouth, the devil himself appeared in front of me, saving me the embarrassment of talking to thin air.

He walks around the bed and plopped down next to me.

“How was your first day of school?”

“Exhilarating,” I say monotonously.

I opened my laptop, settling onto my bed and began typing. 

“What’re you doing?”

“Checking social media. Someone as chatty and oversharing as you has got to have had their life posted all over the internet for the whole world to see.”

“What if I'm not the same person as I was before?” He shifts a little on the bed to look at me. “Maybe my personality was completely different then.”

“I’m hoping that’s not the case.”

I logged onto Facebook, finding over a hundred Choi Soobins. It took me roughly an hour and a half to go through each profile. To my annoyance, I didn’t find much luck. 

Next, I moved on to Instagram and Twitter. That proved to be even more useless and a big waste of my time.

After searching throughout all the social media platforms I could think of, I brought my hands up to my face and let out a frustrated, gargled cry.

“Why are you so hard to find on the internet?”

“Have you tried Google?”

“I can’t simply type in your name. There’s got to be something more specific to add to the search engine to narrow down the list and find you.”

I tap my fingers on my keyboard, trying to rack my brain for any information that would be helpful. He still look pretty young so perhaps he could've gotten into an accident. It's a long shot, but it's worth trying.

“Do you know how long you’ve been a ghost?”

“Two years and counting.”

It's currently the middle of the year, twenty-nineteen, so I type in _Choi Soobin 2017 South Korea death; accident_ and press enter. I scroll down and see something interesting. It was a news website and the title caught my eyes.

“Top Student, _Choi Soobin_ , Involved In Fatal Car _Accident_ In Sangnok-gu”

I hover over the link before pressing down on the mouse pad. I feel myself stop breathing when my eyes landed on a familiar face.

Beside me, I feel Soobin freeze as we read the article together side by side. He remained silent and unmoving as I scrolled down all the way to the bottom of the page, trying to conceal my disbelief and shock.

“According to the article—”

“I’m not dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm working on getting more chapters out as fast as I can. Thanks for reading! <333

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is short but will be longer from here on out. I'm currently working on another work so I'm not sure when I'll have the next update out but let's say hopefully soon.
> 
> Thank you for reading this and I hope I can write this out in the way I have already imagined. *muah* (´ε｀*)


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